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editor of
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as a dramatic rering for his paper
,roductions of New
:o read his reviews.
: surface and show
!ar play under con;lear up a lot of
Ild and should not
> whether worthy
dignified dramatic
IAPGOOD,
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VOLUME II
MAGAZINE
NUMBER 6
C
OF NEIGHBORLINESS
NOVEMBER 30, 1913
PR ICE FIVE CENT
HOvV TO SOCIALIZE A COMPETITIVE WORLD*
~I
By PAUL MOORE STRAYER
A.:.VI not going to make the kind of speech
that you think I am going to make. In
.
"The Fight,'' which all of your friends
who need to be socialized should go to
near, the doctor says, "You do not say of a
man, How kind is he? How good is he?
You ask, How much is he worth?" What I
want to talk
about is the
time that i::
coming when
we shall ask,
How good is
he ? I am · going to start
just as the indivi d u a 1 i s t
starts.
This
is an incurably competitive world. It
is competitiou
that gives zest
to life, and
adds ·some thing of play
to work. How are we going to socialize this
competitive world? The desire to excel
A
1 above one's fellows still remains with us.
man's greatness still rests on his achievement. But on what basis will you teckon
his achievement? What must men 1lo in
order to be accounte:d great and successful
in this world? William Allen White says :
''The race's progress may be read by the definition it has made of achievement." So it
has been in all history-the answer to that
question tells how far the race has progressed toward its sublime goal.
In prehistoric days the man with the
, strongest muscle was the greatest man.
\\.hen society began to be organized. and so
long as war was the chief business of life.
the gr eat man was the soldier. In the Mid-
I
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Jood Gray Poet
platform ! The
r friend, PnoF.
1rcely wait for
are we to hear
itman, Prophet
Id have revelled
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does not see what he has done, as the soldier does when he looks around the battle-field. To increase the price of oil or sugar
seems very innocent, and it brings in the
millions; and the man who does it never
knows the suffering and hardship he has
caused all along the line. (Applause;) William James says: ''We need in our presentday life something that will produce · the
moral equivalent of war." Money does not
do it. ; But just so long as we count a man's
success on the basis · of the money he has
won, just so long it will be money that men
compete for. This desire to be great is one
of the -best possessions of mankind; it is because of it that the race has made progress.
The way to socialize this incurably competitive world is to set men to competing for
something better than lordship and gold.
(Applause.) You can't get rid of the game;
and you don 't want to. But you can change
the rules of the game, and if you do that,
then the game itself is changed.
(Applause. )
That isn't · nearly so hard as it seems.
:.fen are goocj., rather than bad. There are
three forces that go to make up man's life
- self-interest, conscience, and public opinion. Public opinion nowadays is the biggest
factor in a man's life: the conscience of the
community means more to a man than his
own ·c onscience or his self-interest. ( The
speaker iilustrated this by telling how the
Western Uniori Telegraph Company in New
York lost $6,000,000 annually, ,g ained by allowing gambling over their private wires,
rather than have the names and photographs
·of the directors published in the papers.)
There is no man who is unmoved by public
opinion, and the bigger the man, the more
he is amenable to it. We all live up to the
rules of our class : what your set requires of
you, that you will do.
Jesus said: " He that would be first among
'
most of their lives in business. Business
began as a division of men who could make
utensils, men who could use utensils, and
men who could fetcn and carry utensils; and
that division still holds. Business in the
beginning was simply f supplying of social
needs. Business still ,1s, and always must
remain, the discovery and fulfilment of these
needs. Most men are in business today for
the money that is in it. The evil of business
has grown out of the standard of success we
have agreed to. · The business man has a
perfect ri-ght to ask a toll of the community,
but because he is so anxious to be great he
is under constant temptation to ask a .larger
toll than is his due.
This raises the question, What is
reasonable return that the business man
may expect for the service he renders?
It has been accepted in business up to
now that a thing is worth as much
as it will bring.
The law of supply
and demand isn't adequate when it can be
manipulated. From the social point or
view, a thing is worth as much as it costs
to make and sell it, plus a reasonable return
to the maker and the seller. The reasonable return of the money-lender has been ·
fixed by many States at 6 per cent. The
manufacturer and the merchant are entitled
to a larger rate. When we have arrived at a
consensus of opinion as to this, then everything in excess of dividends must be given
back to the community in the shape of a
better and cheap~r product and of more
wage.
Apply the rule of Jesus to business. and
you will have in business one of the finest
expositions of the Christian idea. There is
nothing intrinsically different between the
business man and the teacher or the social
worker. There is something in business
which appeals to the imagination, if one
brings imagin;itinn rn
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oeen accepted iri business up to
-~• .r vu can change t1ow that a thing is worth as much
··· - • u,e,; or the game, and if you do that,
as it will bring. The law of supply
(Ap- and demand isn't adequate when it can be
tnat gives zest then the game itself is changed.
manipulated. From the social point or
to life, and plause. l
That isn't nearly so hard as it seems. view, a thing is worth as much as it costs· ·
adds some•
thing of play Men are good, rather than bad. There are to make and sell it, plus a reasonable return
to work. How are we going to socialize this three forces that go to make up man's life to the maker and the seller. The reasoncompetitive world? The desire to excel -self-interest, conscience, and public opin- able return of the money-lender has been
above one's fellows still remains with us. A ion. Public opinion nowadays is the biggest fixed by many States at 6 per cent. The
man's greatness still rests on his achieve- factor in a man's life: the conscience of the manufacturer and the merchant are entitled
ment. But on what basis will you reckon community means more to a man than his to a larger rate. When we have arrived at a
bis achievement? What must men do in own <!onscience. or his self-interest. (The consensus of opinion as to this, then everyorder to be accounted great and successful speaker illustrated this by te~ng how the thing in excess of dividends must be given
Western Union Telegraph Company in New back to the community in the shape of a
in this world? William Allen White says:
"The race's progress may be read by the defi- York lost $6,000,000 annually, .gained by al- better and cheaper· product and of more
·
nition it has made of achievement." So it lowing gambling over their private wires, wage.
Apply the rule of Jesus to business, and
has been in all history-the answer to that rather than have the names and photographs
you will have in business one of the finest
question tells how far the race has ·pro- of the directors published -in the papers.)
There is no man who is unmoved by public expositions of the Christian idea. There is
gressed toward its sublime goal.
In prehistoric days the man with the opinion, and the bigger the man, the more nothing intrinsicaJly different between the
strongest muscle was the greatest man. he is amenable to it. We all -live up to the business man and the teacher or the social
'\Vhen society began to be organized, and so rules of our .class: what your set requires of worker. There is something in business·
which appeals to the imagination, if one
long as war was the chief business of life, you, that y'ou will do.
Jesus said : "He that would be-first among brings imagination to it. I used to pity .men
the great man was the soldier. In the Middle Ages, when the Church held the reins you, let him be your servant." The adop- who had to deal with things instead of
of temporal power and controlled the means tion of that simple rule would change the . people or ideas, but I think now the business
of culture, the great man was the priest. game, and life on earth would be more like man has one of the .greatest of opportunities
The discovery of gunpowder made the sol- the heavenly life. (Applause.) It is a rev- of service to his fellow-men. He can say,
dier insignificant, and the invention of the olutionary measure of success; but it has as Jesus did: "I am in the -midst of you as
already been adopted in many quarters- he that serveth." W.h at I am pleading for
printing-press made the priest insignificant;
and then the man who wanted to be · great by the physician, the teacher, the art- is this :-the business man must be tested
.
·went into politics. But during the last gen- ist, the scientist, the minister, the we!- by the same measure of success as the
These men are great,
teacher and the minister and the welfare ,,,eration the man who could control the sur- fare worker.
worker. Then the greatest business in a
plus earnings of his fellow-men was the not because they have made money,
great man, and men who wanted to be great but because they have rendered some city will not be that which pays the biggest
entered the pursuit for gold. The struggle service to the> community. ( The speaker dividends, but that which pays the biggest
wages, and renders the biggest service to
for money · which has characterized this past • then told how Robert E. Lee refused $50,000
the community in which it is situated. (Apgeneration, and which is still with us, is a year to lend his name as president of a
nothing other than the man-old desire to be northern development company,' and died as . plause.) We will continue to ask of a man,
president of Washington Academ y, at $1,200
How much is he worth? but the question
great, to stand out above one's fellows.
w1ll mean, How much is he worth to the
Jhere are no misers today. A misfr ,gets a vear.) He was none the less great for
money and hides it. Today a man gets that, was he? The hour has sfruck when crimmunity? (Applause.)
And this change is taking place now, almoney and makes a show of it. / Money this same measure of success must be apmost without notice. A new type of hero
means power. The man who has money <!an plied to business and politics! (Applause.)
is arising today. The old; ideal was the
buy his way into most of the places he The time has <!ome when men who would
man who had begun poor and ·ended rich, no
wants to go, and do most of the things he be · great must .go into business as a form
wants t-0 do. The kind of lordship with of social service. We ·have put business men matter how he earned his money. That type
which this generation is familiar is the lord- under pressure to get money, and more is no longer played up iri · the magazines
ship of gold. Any n1an can make money money. You and I . and all of us are re- and newspapers. The "Interesting People"
if he will pay the price, and these perfectly sponsible for public opinion. We must put in the ma.gazines today a're the people who
splendid fellows who want to be great have them under just the same .pressure to -r-end~r-- . .have rendered some servi¢e _to the commusought greatness by the easiest and <!heap- service to the community as we have put" · nity iO:.: which th~Y--liv'e:-·.:.,-On:ce more, when
.
you change the stak~ fofi;.. whj.ch men play;'·
est route-just to get money and more them to get rich.
I suppose now you will think I am becom- the game .will lose none 'of its thrill. Do
money.
The man who earns greatness by money ing very visionary, when I talk of Christian- you say,_ You have got to have material
izing business. But our ·. modern civilization profit to induce individual initiative and inmeans nothing if it doesn't apply to busi- ventiveness? The gr.eat~st inventiveness}°*The ~pee~hes and the questions and auswers
ness, because , most men :today are spending
(Continued on .Page 4.)
reported !,~· :\Iiriam .-\.lieu cle Forcl.
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ast the Good Gray Poet
O'l our platform !
The
1 be our friend, PnoF.
can scarcely wait for
{erness are we to hear
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'Talt Whitman, Prophet
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nan would have revelled
1ately earnest men and
years before we came ·
~elieve this after you
u believe it now or not.
Meetings
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THE QUESTIONS
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Q (Mr. Brown): In changing the rules
of the game of life, shouldn't we change the
individuals with them?
A: Of course, we do change the individual to get _him to play by the new rules.
Q: Is it - not a waste of time to apply
moral persuasion to business when the object of business in the last analysis is
greed?
'
A: I don 't agree with you that it is. As
I pointed out, business once was, and should
be again, social service.
Q: How can yo u Ch:r:istianize business except by governmentally so.c ializing it, as we
have done in the parcel post·?
A: Just as other forms of activity have
been socialized-teaching, for instance.
Q: As long as property rights have always preceded hu::nan rights, how are you
going to change that order?
A: They have not, always; they have
sometimes, because of the standard of success we have set up. We are getting back
to the old estimate.
Q: What is the necessity of a middleman
in the selling and using of coal, for instance?
.
A: There is no necessity. It is simply
an inevitable convenience of a complex social life.
Q: Since preaching hasn't done much
good for two thousand years; why wouldn' t
it be better to enlighten the working man
as to his rights instead of asking the business man to be good? (Applause.)
A: In ''The Inside of the Cup," Winston
Churchill says: "You will never ,g et what
you call Socialism until Socialism is no
longer necessary."
Q: You have laid stress on public opinion. Why did Ibsen say: "The strongest
man is he who stands alone?"
A: I don't know why he said it, but it
isn't true. Tlie strongest man is he who
stands against public opinion only when it
is wrong.
Q: :'.\o matter what the standard of success is, there are a lways great men. How
do ,·on account for it?
Q: Why should money be allowed to
take precedence over life'?
A: It shouldn't.
Q (Sent up in writing by a deaf and
dumb member of the audience): Isn't
,vealth acquired through an excessive rate
of rent and employed for worthy and useful
ends-hospitals, libraries-better employed
than if it were scattered · in the form of better ·wages between isolated and divergent
wills?
·
A: If I understand the question I do_ not
agree with the inference made. Excessive
rents cannot be sanctified by their use for
public benefits.
Q: If a liquor dealer sells his commodity
at cost is he rendering a social service?
A: That is a purely hypothetical case!
(Laughter.)
Q (::\1iss Rogolsky): Doesn' t the Jaw
sometimes overrule public opinion when
public opinion is right?
A: Temporarily; but law is nothing but
crystallized public opinion. You can have
an ything you want if yo u want it badly
eno-Hgh.
Q: Would co-operative societies socialize
business?
A: I think they wou ld very largely . help
to do so.
Q: Is it a fair return to the community
when a man who has accumulated much
money leaves one-quarter to · the public and
three-quarters to his family?
A: It is not: and the income and inlJritance taxes
some time remedy that.
Q: Is it not true that the primary motive in our desire to get money is to get
comforts and I uxuries, and the respect of
the community is secondary?
A: I never heard but one man subscribe
to that opinion. American men today do
not love softness.
Q ( :.\1r. Coleman) : But don't you think
that's true of moll.est sums of money-of
us here. for instance?
A: Certainly, because most of us here
don't make enough to- win any prestige!
(Lau_ hter. l
g
will
Q (:.\fr. Hogan): Can't the people be ,
educated to change public opinion to the
right?
A: Certainly; that is exactly what I am .
pleading for.
Q: What rule have you for · chan ging public opinion other than educating the com-mon people as to what their rights are and
how to .g et them·? (Applause.)
A: That is the best way, but that operates only for the common people. What we
need is some way to get this same idea tothose who do not regard themselves as the
common people.
. Q: Hasn't money been responsible for
murder, war , prostitution, slavery and star- vation?
A: i\ot money, but the love of money.
Q: Are there many big l~usiness men .
who run their businesses on the lines laid
down by Jesus?
A: There are beginning to be. I know
some fairly significant business men who are
doing it.
·
,
Q: Why should not the government ap-ply these very principles collectively instead
of our applying them individually'?
A: The government does apply them,
and will, more a nd more. Until now we
have socialized the unpr')fitable activities ;
now we must socialize t he profitable ones.
Q: What is the reason that divinity is.
being commercialized ?
A: I am afraid my brother has neve1been a preacher, or he would know that we
do not go into the profession for commercial reasons.· But why not pay teachers of
morals as well as teachers of other things?'
Q: Since the greatest men are those
who serve the people in a representative.
capacity, usually governmental, why not.
give these ideas directly to the government'?'
A: Because, though we would arrive
more quickly, "·e would not go so far.
Q: How does the teaching of Jesus differ from that of }loses?
A: Just as He compared it, when He
said: "I come tt> fulfil the law of :.\foses."
Q (Same) : Can the policeman, the soldier and the executioner be Christianized as.
well as the business man, and what kind of
voliceman, soldier and exe cutioner would
they be'? (Laughter.)
A: The first two can, any wa:r, more
easily than the business man.
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ford met w
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made an ,
After pointi
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sible adve1
have, he sai
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thing was i
often he go
those he got
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And tMt ~
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line outside,,
from the beg:
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night. I lik
Ford Hall pe
talk to me. t
I get to chat
me right now
a con,·ersatior
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i.Jeen socialized-teacnmg, 1or 111,;Lalll:i:!.
Q: As long as property ri ghts have always })receded bu::nan rights, how are you
going to change that order ?
A: They have not, always ; they .have
sometimes, because of the standard of success we have set up. We are getting back
to the old estimate.
Q: What is the necessity of a middleman
in the selling and using of coal, for instance?
A: There is no necessity. It is simply
an inevitable convenience of a complex social life.
Q: Since preaching hasn't done much
good for two thousand years; why wouldn't
it be better to enlighten the working man
as to his rights instead of asking the business man to be good? (Applause.)
A:
In "The Inside of the Cup," Winston
Churchill says: "You will never ,g et what
you call Socialism until Socialism is no
longer necessary."
Q: You have laid stress on public opinion. Why - id Ibsen say: "The strongest
d
man is he who stands alone?"
A: - I don't know why he said it, but it
isn't true. The strongest man is he who
stands against public opinion only when it
is wrong.
Q: No matter what the standard of success is, there are always great men. How
do you account for it?
A: I cannot account for it. All we can
do is to see that the standard of the future
is the standard of Jesus.
Q: How can you compare business and ·
teaclling when business requires an investment and -teaching does not?
A: Money is stored up personal energy,
and teachers must invest much personal
energy.
Q (Mr. Sackmary) : Is it not ironical to
ask us to give our life and blood when we
already do so, and the great capitalists do
not?
, A: · I did not mean to be ironical. I say,
you are doing it now, and I ask, for what?
If we expect these men who mus( still be
Christianized, to change their -standards, we
must change ours, too.
Q: Do you think that public opinion, es~
pecially as expressed in the press, is always
right?_
.,,
A: · -No. But we have each our little
share in it, and we must see to it that our
part of it is ri-ght.
Q: What do you think of the income
ta..'i:?
A: I think very highly of it. I may not
approve all its details, but I thoroughly believe in its principle, and that in a few
years it will include all .the surplus wealth
of individuals.
Q: How can public opinion be changed
unless someone first stands alone to start
it?
A: Very few men today. are right all
alone. Even the pioneers are likely to have
companions.
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That is a purely hypothetiQal case!
Q: 11\Thy should not the government ap(Laughter.)
ply these very principles collectively instead ·
Q (i\'Iiss Rogolsky): Doesn't the law
of our applying them individualln
sometimes overrule public opinion when
A: The government does appl y them,
public opinion is right?
ancl will, more and more. -Until now we
A: Temporarily; but law is nothing but have socialized the unpr')fitable activities;
crystallized public opinion. You can have now we must socialize th e profitable ones_
anything you want if you want it badly
Q: What · is the reason that divinity is.
enough.
being commercialized?
Q: ·would co-operative societies socialize
A: I am afraid my brother has neve1business?
been a preacher, or he would know that we
A : I think they would very largel y help do not go into the profession for commer-to do so.
cial reasons. But why not pay teachers of
Q: Is it a fair return _ the community
to
morals as well as teachers of other things?
when a man who has accumulated much
Q: Since the greatest men are those
money leaves one-quarter to · the public and
who serve the people in a representative
three-quarters to his family?
capacity, usually governmental, why not
A : It is not ; and the income and in- give these ideas directly to the government?·
heritance taxes will some time remedy that.
A: Because, though we would arrive
Q: Is it not true that the primary momore quickly, we would not go so far.
tive in our desire to get money is to get
Q : How does the teaching of Jesus difcomforts and luxuries, and the respect of . fer from that of Moses?
the community is secondary?
A: Just as He compared it, when He
A: I never heard but one man ·s ubscribe said: "I come to fulfil the Jaw of :l-1oses."
to that opinion. American men today do
Q (Same): Can the policeman, the solnot love softness.
dier and the executioner be Christianized as
Q (M r : Coleman) : But don't you think
well as the business man, 'and what kind of
that's true of modest sums of money-of policeman, soldier and executioner would
us here, for instance?
~
they be ? (Laughter.)
A: Certainly, because most of us here
A: The first two can, any way, more
don't make enough to win any prestige!
easily than the business man.
(Laughter.)
Q: Do you mean to say as a Christian
Q (Mrs. Hoffman): Is the manufactur- minister that the public can make that
ing of guns, liquor and patent medicines
which is morally wrong, morally right?
rendering service to society?
A: Certainly not. But I do say that
A : ~o, and in the future these businesses
public opin!tm can make a .man who is doing
will be considered unlawful.
wrong do right.
Q: The saloon is recognized by the
church and the home as a great evil. Why
The Greater Problem
hasn't public opinion wiped it out?
A: That is one of the mysteries of our
By Helen Keller.
present-day life. But all of a sudden that
"Deafness,- like poverty, stunts and
very thing is going to happen. (Laughter
deadens its victims until they do not
and applause.)
realize the wretchedness of their. conQ: Will a man stand aside for public
dition. They are incapable of desiring
opinion if it stands between him and his
improvement. God help them! They
bread and butter?
grope, they stumble with their eyes
A: No, but it isn't true that a man will
wide open, they are indifferent. They
lose his breaci and butter who conducts his
miss everything in the world that
business according to the rules of Jesus.
makes life worth living, and yet they
Q: Didn't Confucius and Buddha teach
do not realize their own bondage.
morals before Christ?
We must not wait for the deaf to ask
A: Certainly.
for speech, or for the submerged of
Q (Miss deFord): You believe in the
humanity to rise up and demand their
income and the inheritance tax. Do yo u
liberties. We who see, we who hear,
believe in the returning of the unearned
we who understand, must help them,
increment of the land to the people, accord· must give them the bread of knowling to the principle .Df Henry George?
edge, must teach them what their huA: I am not quite sure. I am still waitman inheritance is. Let every science
ing for light on that subject.
do its part-medicine, surgery, otolQ (Mr. Frazer): Do you believe the
ogy, psychology, education, invention,
world is growing more or less moral?
economics, mechanics. And while you
· A: lt is climbing fast up the · golden
are working for the deaf child, do not
stairs!
'
forget that his problem is only part
Q: Did public opinion or the solidarity
of a greater problem, the problem of
of the workers settle the Lawrence strike?
bettering the condition of all manA:· Public opinion. Strikes have never
kind."
been won without public opinion back of
them.
A:
In one dis c
noon in the F
made an exc
After pointing
crowds we .ar,
our doors Sm:
sible advertiE
have, he· said
ing in the line
ing for the do,
markable spon
place there. :F
thing was imr
often he got .
those he got f
themselves.
And that giv
I, too, enjoy b
line outside, ar
from the begim
lines on both E
with the people
night. I like
Ford Hall peop
talk to me. Tl
I get to chat v
me right now ir
a conversation ,
passing by the
posed.
I
I
f.
#
,~
4
\
1
· That educatio
is growing steac
ready to render
It is quite eviclE
group who woul
ance, to gain ,
practical every-c
ment. The con
th·e matter madE
Foster, a very c
ing report. AftE
matter was r ecc
further condens:
report as soon a
YOU might be i
meeting in the
which the ch;u.g
send vour name
Cra wiord, Ford I
Our F. H . F. m
afternoon are gr
in importance. ,
last Sunday by
speaker for the :
meeting. Mrs. J,
intendent of the
.Sherburn, gave
about her n eighbc
when she was at
vice · Department
era! Hospital. T
had a buffet supp
ing twenty-five ce1
ate together . and
ciaJ intercourse.
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FORD HALL FOLKS
rn·t the people be ,
Jlic opinion to the
\
exactly what I aru .
i
By
iu for· changing pub-
educating the com- ;heir rights are and
.ause.)
way, but that oper,n people. What we
!t this same idea to·
d themselves as the
een responsible for
,n, slavery and star- ·
:he love of money.
big business men .
es on the lines laid
1ing to be. I know
usiness men who are
the government ap-·
s collectively instead
ndividually'?
; does apply them, .
.ore. Until now we
.pr'lfitable activities;
the profitable ones .
.son that divinity is .
.- brother has neve1·
would know that we
Jfession for comruernot pay teachers of
1ers of other things·?"
test men are those
in a representative
ernmental, why nol
y to the government'?'
1
we would arrive
i not go so fa r .
eaching of Jesus dif?
nparecl it, when He
the law of ::\'Ioses."
1e policeman, the sol~r be Christianized as
.an, -and what kind of
d exec utioner would
can, any way, more
ss man.
:o say as a -Christian
1blic can make that
ng, morally right'?
But I do say that
.~e a roan who is doing
___ ,., ,.. ,_ . .. ; .,,...,.1
1,,.
AS IT LOOKS TO ME
GEORGE
W.
Director of the Ford Hall Meetings
Last Sunday was banner night at Ford
Hall in two particulars. We had the largest
attendance yet at the " Folks"' meeting in
the afternoon, seventy in number, and
young London and his assistants sold
enough copies of this ma;a:zine to push the
circulation fe r the first time up to the thousand mark. I really did not think we would
hit it so soon. Slightly over eight hundred
copies were sold that night as against less
than four hundred the night before. That is
a tribute both to Dr. W~ and to our own
Sam Sackman', whose thumb-nail biographical sketch so cleverly done by Miss Craw- ·
ford met with widespread approval.
*
*
*
In one . discussio:i. we had· Sunday afternoon in the F. H. F. meeting ::\'Ir. Victorson
made an exceedinslY thoughtful remark.
After pointing out -the obvious fact that the
crowds we are obliged to turn away from
our doors Sunday nights are the best possible advertisement our meetings cou'.:l
have, he said that he greatly enjoyed standing in the line outside with the crowd waiting for the doors to open because of the remarkable spontaneous discussions that take
place there. He said the psychology of the
thing was immensely interesting, and that
often he got values .from it greater than
those he got from the Ford Hall meetings
themselves.
·
*
*
*
And that gives me the chance to say that
I, too, enjoy being with the _
people in the
line outside, and _that is the reason I have
from the beginning walked up and down the
lines on both sides of the building talking
with the people whom I knew every Sunday
night. I like to talk personally with the
Ford Hall people, and I like to have them
ta-lk to me. That is about the only chance
I get to chat with the most of them. Let
me right now invite any one of you open up
a conversation with me any time you see me
passing by the line, and you feel so disposed.
*
*
*
That educational plan we are working -on
is growing steadily, although we are not yet
r eady to render a decision or go into details.
It is quite evident, however, that there is a
group ,Yho ,Yonlcl likP.
rl ,a
COLEMAN,
nruin.,.. ;,...,c- ,- ; ........ ...... : ~
,,~~
,
The next Ford Hall Folks "meeting comes
Dec. 14, at 3.30 o'clock. Everyone who is interested is welcome. Just drop a line to
Miss Crawford a few ·days ahead telling her
that you are comin~.
*
*
*
*
* . *
The :.1anchester, ::-.. H., Open Forum
started last Sunday night. I am hoping to
hEar very good things from it.
The :.last.er of the South Dakota Grange
and his wife were with us last Sunday night
on the platform. They had heard about us
while they were attending the meeting of
._
the ~ational Grange in ~ew Hampshire and
came down especially to study our work on
their own account. They went away highly
pleased.
* * *'
It is delightful to notice how some good
people ·are finding out that we are neither
bigoted nor crazy at Ford Hall,-only dead
in earnest and trying to be fair to everybody, that is all.
*. *
*
We were all glad to have one Sunday
ni- ht when it didn 't rain.
g
*
*
*
It will be good to have ~orman Hapgood
on our platform again next -Sunday night.
I count him one of the mcst virile forces for
good in America. He will give Harper's
Weekly, before he is through with it, something of the prestige- it had in the old days.
It is great fun to watch it grow every week
under his · guiding genius.
*
*
*
If Peter Clark. Macfarlane shows us that
he can talk anywhere near as well as he
can write, we will be in danger of making
him "a little tin .g od on wheels."
*
*
*
Do you ·know Miss Bessie Polsky, who
generally sits pretty near the centre of the
central section of seats on the floor? Quite
frequently she propounds a question and it
is always a thoughtful one. She keeps
books all through the week, but Sunday
night in Ford Hall she is as keenly sensitive to eve·rything that goes on as if that
were her chief business in life. It is just
because we have so many men and wo men.
~..,.1..., ,-.
l: 1 . •
"
..- •
3
Do you know it isn't an _easy thing for
anybody to devote himself to the welfare
of others? vVe think sometimes that the
rich men ought to• do that kind of a stunt.
:VIost of us appear rich to someone, and he
doubtless thinks we might easily do a good
deal more for others than we do. Did you
ever try to keep at doing for others day in
and day out the year around? Some rich
men do that, and many poor men do it. Do
we who are neither rich nor poor?
*
*
*
So Brother Strayer thinks we can't sfng
as well as his folks do in Rochester '? I am
glad he told us so, fo r that will make ·us
try harder to do better. Bti°t I thi nk there is
a very good reason for it. From what I've
heard, I don't believe they have so heterogeneous an audien ce as we do. It makes a
great difference whether people have ever
been used to singing together before. I
think we do wonderfully well and believe at
the same time that :.fr. Gutterson can help
us to do much better. The chorus is growing in healthy. fashion. As it gets stronger,
we will get more and more help from it.
How easy it is for us to lay the blame for
our failure upon our employer, upon this political party or that, upon the tariff, the chiggers, the boll-weevil-upon everything under
the sun except ourselves. To those who complained of the heavy taxes Poor Richard replied, "We are taxed twice as much by our
·idleness, three times as much by our
pride, and four times as much by our folly."
And Shakespeare said, as you will remember, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our
stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Other Meetings
Wells Memorial Institute, 937 Washington
Street, Tuesday, Dec. 2, at S P . M. Better
Houses for Working People, by George B.
Gallup.
Public Library, Thursday, Dec. 4, at S
P . M., Raphael, the Decorator, by Mary ,Augusta Mullikin. Sunday, Dec. 'i, at 3 P . M.,
The Ides of :VIarch and Pom pey's Theatre,
by S. Richard Fuller.
The Sunday -Commons, at Huntington
Hall, Sunday, Dec. 7, at 3.30 P. M., Dr.
Charles Fleischer, leader.
School Voters' League, at Ford Hall, Saturday_ Dec. 6, at 10.45 A. ::vr.. Some Aspects
of the Feminist }Iovement, by :--Jarman Hapgood. 50c.
·1
;;
_.
• ·• -
themselves.
ntal, whY not
be :!overnment?
, " :-o uld arrive
go so far.
,g of Jesus dif-
i it, when I::le
,; of :!\• oses."
l
ceman, the sol~hristianized as. .
d what kind ef
:utioner would
way, more
;as a Christian
;an make that
rally right?
I do say that
m who is doing
*
by the
reat evil. Why
:it out?
ysteries of our
a sudden that
en. (Laughter
f .
·
public
l himorand his
bat a man will
10 conducts his
iles of Jesus.
\ 13uddha teach
*
ibelieve in the
f tax.
Do you
~ the unearned
\people, · accord·
v George?
[ am still waitru believe the
~ moral?
op · the golden
~ the
solidarity
Frence strike?
: s have never
e
\inion back of
f
.1..J.aJ.J.
11.H ! eUUgs
*
*
*
· That educational plan we are working on
is growing steadily, although we are not yet
ready to render a decision or go into details.
It is quite evident, however, that there is a
group who would like, under inspiring guidance, to gain a closer knowledge of the
1
1ractical every-day details of local government. The committee appointed to study
th·e matter made through its chairman, Mr.
Foster, a very comprehensive and interesting report. After an hour's discussion, the
matter was r ecommitted ·to them for still
further condensation with instructions to
report as soon as they could. If · you think
you might be interested in such a class
meeting in the evening ·once a week, for
which the char.ge would be only nominal,
send your name and address to Miss M. C.
Crawford, Ford Building, Boston.
I
;nized
l. de
a
*
v ... '""
And that gives rue the chance to say that
I , too, enjoy being with the _
people in the
line outside, and that is the reason I have
from the beginning walked up and down the
Jines on both sides of the building talking
with the people whom I knew every' Sunday
night. I like to talk personally with the
Ford Hall people, and I like to have them
talk to rue. That is about the only chance
I get to chat with the most of them. Let
me right now invite any one of you open up
a conversation with me any time you see me
passing by the line, and you feel so disposed.
l
I.ny
'
*
...
'
*
*
Our F. H. F. meetings every third Sunday
afternoon are growing fast in interest and
in importance. We inaugurated a new idea
last Sunday by having a specially invited
speaker for the last fifteen minutes of the
meeting. Mrs. Jessie I. Hodder, the superintendent - f the Woman's Reformatory at
o
.Sherburn, gave us a -irery intimate talk
about her neighborly work in the West End
when she was at the head of the Social Service · Department of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Then nearly seventy of us
had a buffet supper together, each one paying twenty-five cents. For an hour or so we
ate together• and indulged in delightful social intercourse.
_
_._. .... ._,
.._, UilUd. j
1llg11 t.
1 co unt him one of the mcst virile forces for
good in America. He will give Harper·s
Weekly, before he is throi.1gh with it, something of the prestige it had in the old days.
It is great fun to watch it grow every week
under his guiding genius.
__ -~~~""Jl"are said, as you ,,ill remember, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our
stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Other Meetings
Wells Memorial Institute, 9Si Washington
* * *
Street, Tuesday, Dec. 2, at S P. M. Better
If Peter Clark Macfarlane shows us that
Houses for Working People, by George B.
he can talk anywhere near as well as he
can write, we will be in danger of making Gallup.
Public Library, Thursday, Dec. 4, . at S
him "a little tin .g od on wheels."
,.
P. 111:., Raphael, the Decorator, by Mary Au* *
gusta Mullikin. Sunday, Dec. 7, at 3 P. M.,
Do you know Miss Bessie Polsky, who
generally sits pretty near the centre of the The Ides of March and Pompey's Theatre,
central section of seats on the floor? Quite by S. Richard Fuller.
The Sunda.y Commons, at Huntington
frequently she propounds a question and it
is always a thoughtful one. She keeps Hali, Sunday, Dec. 7, at 3.30 P . M., Dr.
books all through the week, . but Sunday Charles Fleischer, leader.
School Voters' League, at Ford Hall, Satnight in Ford Hall she is as keenly sensiurday, Dec. 6, at 10.45 A. M., Some .Aspects
tive to eve"rything that goes on as if that
were her chief business in life. It is just of the Feminist Movement, by Norman Hapbecause we have so many men a nd women, good. 50c.
Lowell Institute, at Huntington Hall,
who, like Miss Polsky, are all absorbed in
the evening's program, that we have such -a . Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 5 P. :11:., Some Types
remarkable audience, a fact well attested of English Poetry, by Prof. G. H. Palmer.
Monday, Dec. 1, and Thursday, Dec. 4, at
by scores of speakers.
8 P. M., The Sea in English Poetry, by Alfred Noyes. Tuesday, Dec. 2, and Friday,
Dec. 5, at 8 P. M., The Influence of the ·
Ford Hall Folks
Bible on Civilization, by Prof. Errist
Edited by Thomas Dreier.
von Dobschiitz.
School of Social Science, at Lorimer Hall,
UBLISHED weekly by the Ford
Monday, Dec. 1, at 8 .P. M., Efficiency in LegHall Associates, whose work
islation :-New Senate s ·c enes, by Mrs.
is to create, assemble, and
Emily Montague .Bishop ; and Keeping Tabs
'listribute ideas that will help
on Congress, by L ynn Haines. • l0c.
men and institutions grow more
helpful in serving society, and which
Telephone Fort Hill 3456
will promote "peace on earth, good
will toward men." It is the official
MISS S. A. SMITH
publication of the Ford Hall Meet'
294 Washington St.-BOST9.N-217 Old South Bldg.
ings, which are held, under the direction of George W. Coleman, every
ALL KINDS OF -CLERICAL SERVICE
Sunday GYening during the months of
Stenographic, Typewriiing, MultigraphinJ?, Address•
October to May, in Ford Hall, Ashinir, Mailing.etc. Prompt.Service . Reasonable Rates.
burton Place, Boston, Massachusetts.
_
..,,..,,..
All bu,iness communications should
be sent to Miss Mary C. Crawford,
ADVERTISING
.
.
Treasurer Ford Building, Boston,
A space of this., size-one inch high and
and all comm uni ~at.ions intended for
two and . one-half · inches wide-can be had
the editor to The Thomas Dreier Serfor advertising _
purposes for one dollar per
vice, University Pres.s, Cambridge,
issue. · For 'information regarding advertisMass. Subscription Price: $1.50 for
ing apply to ._
Jacob London, Room 707, Ford
26 numbers . .
Building, Boston, M,1iSS.
P
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FAIRNESS SATISFIES.
,._
By George W. Coleman.
I poi
be ai
Q :'
cep t
have
A:
been
Q:
way,
goinj
A:
som
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FORD HALL FOLKS ·
---- -
Q
of t h E
indivi
A:
ual tc
Q:
mora
ject
greed
";,•y•y, '
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\Vhy not face the facts clear-eyed-employer and employee alike? If the employer
won 't tell what his profits are, it is because
he is ashamed of them or because he is
afraid some one will get them a way from
him. If the employee doesn't know what
the profits of the business are, he is sure
to exaggerate them and wonder why he gets
so little.
Here is a concern doing an annual business that runs into a score of millions of
dollars. The profit each y-t;ar is about three
and a half per cent. There are· eight thousand employees, among the best paid in
general industry.
If all the · profits were given to the employees they would each of them get .about
a ten per cent. increase in wages or salary,
as the case might be. There are some I. W.
W.'s and Socialists among those employees
who probably think they are being robbed
. of the fruits of their toil. There are labor
union men among them who undoubtedly believe that a raise of teri per cent. in wages
all around · would still leave the concern a
big rake-off. But probably there isn't one
of them who would be willing, if he were
running a business, to pay his men so much
that he himself could make only a three
per cent. profit on the business done. In
fact, it couldn't be done by any one except
the most able and hard-working men with
long experience and on the scale of millions.
Now those are the hard, stubborn facts in
regard to that -one industry: Over against
them is the widely prevailing notion among
the workers and among social reformers that
a fair division of the products of labor would
give every workingman from two thousand
to twenty-five hundred dollars a year instead
of the pitiable five. hundred he is now rece1vmg. The truth of the matter is, I am
told. that if all the profits in all lines of
business were divided up among all the
employees, share and share alike, each one
would get an increase of only about two
hundred dollars a year.
Now if these facts were known in the
large and as to e3.ch industry, if they were
explained and elucidated until every one
NEXT
SUNDAY'S
SPEAKER.
There are still some journalists in America whose opinions are worth i:e:;pecting for
the reason that these men are- endowed with
a high order of intelligence-and wield pens
which are both unpurchased and unprejudiced. Norman Hapgood is conspicuously of
their number. This ,winter, in his work on
Harp er' s Weekly , :vir. Hapgood is himself
covering the department of the drama. His
equipment for this is exceptional. For not
only is he a critical reviewer of many years'
standing, but he also possesses the social
spirit so important to any correct judgment
of work in our own time. It should .be very
informing to hear him discuss on our platform, next ·Sundar, "The Modern Drama As
A Social Force."
THE STORY OF LOUISE ADAMS GROUT.
By Mary C. Crawford.
S the Adams in the · middle of Miss
Grout's name would seem to indicate, this member of the Ford Hall
group is of old New England lineage.
She calls herself laughingly "a
Yankee of the Yankees"-yet sees no incongruity in having transferred her energies from the ancestor worship of the D.
A. R.' s to the service of the Socialist party,
of whose executive committee she is a
member.
·'Knowledge of Socialism and of Ford
Hall came to me about the same time,"
says Miss Grout, "through Alexander
Irvine. Socialism seemed to me a method
of solving all social problems, so I at once
affiliated myself with the Party.
Ford
Hall, on the other hand, seemed to offer a
splendid opportunity of getting in close
touch with all kinds of men and women.
And that, too, i value greatly, not only as
a Socialist, but as an individual. I am also
glad that Ford Hall has the definite, though
unobtrusive, religious background which
differentiates it from many Forum movements in other cities."
For, without being a religionist, Miss
Grout believes in religion. She offers about
as fine an example of the social-minded
Christian of our own day as I have ever
met. · Indeed, I think she would take first
A
0
r~nk in th~t
'\V!lv
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+h.-..
,... ,.., ..... .... ....
.. ,... .....
T
the world is that of th<! explorer, th e sciening for Socialism through any channel that
opens.
Which brings me to say that Miss Grout
is the Socialist rriember of Ford Hall's
committee of citizens, and never fails to
respond with alacrity to any call made
upon her for counsel or service. Moreover, she is always a charming and genial
person, thus refuting the common notion
that Socialists are necessarily contentious
and unamiable.
HOW
TO
SOCIALIZE A
WORLD.
COMPETITIVE
(Continued from Page 1.)
tist, the missionary. It is just as exciting to
invent some new social machinery to enable
people to get along together better as it is
to invent some new kind of locomotive or
aeroplane-to invent something to put back
money in to the community as something to
extract from it everything one ca n. That
game is social-it is Christian.
We have to say every day, as .Jesus did.
" This is my body, which is broken for you:
this is my blood, which is shed for you." It
is pitiful to see how our bodies are broken
and our blood shed today, until at last the
waste becomes greater than the repair. and
we die. But for w hat is your body broke
and your blood shed? What account have
you to give of your life ? This new measure
of success must be applied all along the line.
We must ask of ourselves that same standard. \Vhat is the measure of your life-to
serve or to get? It isn't true that " the world
owes yo u a living." YO U owe the world a
life. How have you spent and how are
you going to s;;:;d. it?
Friends Who Are Coiping--l
Dec. 7-::Sforman Hapgood< '"The :viodern
Drama As A Social Force."
Dec. 14-"'Iiss Mary P . Follett of Boston,
"The Social Centre and the Democratic
Ideal." Dr. John Lovejoy Elliott of New
York, ''The Social C,mtre and Direct Action."
Dec. 21-Prof. Charles Zueblin, "Walt
Whitman, Prophet a nd Democrat.''
nof"
•)~_'Q o 'lr
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W.'s and Socialists among those employees
who probably think they are being robbed
Q·
of the fruits of their toil. There are labor
wa ys
union men among them who undoubtedly bego1n
lieve that a raise of ten per cent. in wa.ges
A:
all around · would still leave the concern a
·some
big rake-off. But probably there isn't one
~ess
of them who would be willing, if he were
to t
running a business, to pay his men so much
- Q:
-that he himself could make only a three
'n t
per cent. profit on the business done. In
stan
fact, it couldn't be done by any one excepf
A:
the most able and hard-working men with
an i
long experience and on the scale of millions.
cial
Now those are the hard, stubborn facts in
Q:
regard to that -one industry. Over against
goo
them is the widely prevailing notion among
it b
the workers and among social reformers that
as t
a fair division of the products of labor would
nes
give every workingman from two thousand
A
to twenty-five hundred doll!'- a year instead
~.
Chu
of the pitiable five hundre Ui e is now reyou
ceiving. The truth of the m tter is, I am
lon~
told, that if all the profits in all lines of
Q
business were divided up among all the
employees, share and share alike, each one
would get an increase of only about two .
hundred dollars a year.
Now if these facts were known in the
is
large and as to each industry, if they were
explained and elucidated until every one
ces
had mastered them, wouldn 't it do away at
do
once with a good deal of this moonshine
about the employee being robbed by the
~
do
employer? And wouldn't it also tend to
is
reduce exaggerated profits wherever they exist and thus benefit the public as well as
tea'
the employee?
ID
The time is fast coming, if it is not already here, when there is to be a democan
racy of interest in regard to big business
enEl ,..-. . _ affairs. vVhen eight thousand manual work.. ers join hands with eighty brain workers to
as • l"
make a given product in competition with
al
all other workers the onl y sound and stable
no1 ,
basis for such a gigantic piece of co-operative enterprise is a partnership wherein
yo
each group of workers is permitted to know
If
what are the fruits of all their toil, who
C
gets them, and why they are entitled to
m
them. An . organization w elded together on
that prindple would be simply invincible.
pe
Instead oJ spending any energy trying to
ri
get the best of each.:.pther they would then
strain every nerve ttr get the best possible
results for the concern, knowing that !heir
just share was certain to come to them.
A
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Grout's name would seem to indicate, this member of the Ford Hall
group is of old New England lineage.
She calls herself laughingly "a
Yankee of the Yankees"- yet sees no incongruity in having transferred her energies from the ancestor-worship of the D.
A. R. 's to the service of the Socialist party,
of whose executive committee she is a
member.
·'Knowledge of Socialism and of Ford
Hall came to me about the same time,"
says Miss Grout, "through Alexander
Irvine. Socialism seemed to me a method
of sol ving all social problems, so I at once
affiliated myself with the Party.
Ford
·Hall, on the other hand, seemed to offer a
splendid opportunity of getting in close
touch with all kinds of men and women.
And that, too, I value greatly, not only as
a Socialist, but as an individual. I am also
glad that Ford Hall has the definite, though
unobtrusive, religious background which
differentiates it from many Forum movements in other cities."
For, without being a religionist, Miss
Grout believes in religion. She offers about .
as fine an example of the social-minded
Christian of our own day as I have ever
met. Indeed, I think she would take · first
rank in that way among the women that I
know. With an income which would enable her to enjoy almost every luxury-including an annual trip to Europe--she puts
all her time and a very great deal of her
money into the advancement of Socialism.
Her home on Newbury street is lined with
books which appertain to the days when
the affairs of the Browning Society were a
paramount passion with her. But her desk
is piled high with pamphlets, reports and
drculars, by means of which she organizes
the popular educational lectures given in
Tremont Temple Monday evenmgs throughout the winter under the auspices of the
Boston School for Social Science.
This school, maintained by small contributions and by ten-cent admiss ion fees, has
been made self-supporting by dint of much
hard w= k on the part of Miss Grout and
her associates, and . offers an inspiring object lesson of what might be done for social advance in almost any large city-if
there were a Miss Grout to do it. This
year it gives two courses, one on efficiency
in daily life, whose lecturers are all nonSocialists ; and another, after Christmas,
when Socialists of different types will talk
-4.~ · ;-'. . •-~
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.
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on subjects which · reflect various phases
: /.
At St. Helena;'_
,Casas said to Napo- of the Vision. ·. The organizing brain be.Jeon : "Sire, at Potsdam, had I been._y.ou, I
hind all this is Miss Grout, who, for all
would have taken the swoPd- , ot Frederick -.that she is strongly. a party member, beit."r And lieves that the coming of the Co-operative
-~ . the Great and I would have
·Napoleon answered ,as one would. answer .th~:-· Commonwealth can be most effectively adprat~~e of a questioning~_
!;_!lPd,"'· ".{ li(}c( ~Y::, . vanced_ b~ permeating_ p_ublic opinion with
own;
· .~
,
,::,: .;: _
Jiff: '· ·:.:·
the prmc1ples of Soc1ahsm and by work-
A:J
been
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ext ra ct from it every thing one can. That
game is social-it is Christian.
We have to say every day, as Jesus did .
"This is my body, wh ich is broken for you :
this is my blood, which is shed for you.'' It
is pitiful to see how our bodies are broken
and our blood shed todaY, until at last the
waste becomes greater than the repair. and
we die. But for w hat is your body broke
and your blood shed ? What account have
you to give of your life? This new measure
of success must be applied all along the line.
We must ask of ourselves that same standard. What is the measure of you r life-t6
serve or to get ? It isn't true that " the world
owes you a living. " YOU owe the world a
l i f e.
How have you spent and how are
you going to spend it?
·
Friends Who Are Coming
Dec. 7-~orman Hapgood, ''The Modern
Drama As A Social Force."
Dec. 14-Miss Mary P. Follett of Boston,
"The Social Cent-re and the Democratic
Ideal." Dr. John Lovejoy Elliott of New
York, "The Social C~ntre and Direct Action."
Dec. 21-Prof. Charles Zueblin, ·'Walt
Whitman, Prophet a nd Democrat."
Dec. 28-Rev. John Haynes Holmes or
N ew York, "Peace and the N ew Democracy.''
Jan. 4-Dr. Stanton Coit of London, ''The
Ethics of Marriage and Divorce."
Jan. 11-Symposill m, ''What Is the Matter
With Our Public Schools ?" Miss Margaret
Slattery of Fitchburg a nd ot hers to be announced.
Jan. 18-Bishop Charles Williams of Michigan, " Why I Work for the Sin,g le Tax,"
Jan. 25-Dr. Albion Woodbury Small of
Chicago University.
Feb. 1-Alexander Irvine of New York.
Feb. S-Prof. Edward A. Steiner, "The
Inter-)fational Mind and t he Inter-Racial
Heart."
Feb. 15- Syrn posiwm, ''Breeding .Men ."
Speakers to be announced.
Feb. 22-Charles Brandon Booth, "The
Case for the Prisoner."
March 1-Leslie ,vmis Sprague of Chicag o.
March S- Sympos i um, on "Journalism."
A. J. Philpott -0f the Boston Glob e and others
to be announced.
March 15-Rev. Harry Ward, "The Challenge of Socialism to Christianity."
March 22-Rev . .Frank 0 . Hall of New
York, "The Moral Law."
March 29-J ohn Cowper Powys of England, "The Economic Aspects of Woman
Suffrage."
April 5-Mary Church Terrell, "Uncle
Sam and the Sons of Ham."
April 12-Dr. Thomas C. Hall of New
York.
I
April 19-Prof. Walter Rauschenbusch.
.•
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editor of
whom we at Ford
: on "The i lfodern:
Hapgood, who has
as a dramatic rering for his paper
,roductions of New
:o read his reviews.
: surface and show
!ar play under con;lear up a lot of
Ild and should not
> whether worthy
dignified dramatic
IAPGOOD,
l
VOLUME II
MAGAZINE
NUMBER 6
C
OF NEIGHBORLINESS
NOVEMBER 30, 1913
PR ICE FIVE CENT
HOvV TO SOCIALIZE A COMPETITIVE WORLD*
~I
By PAUL MOORE STRAYER
A.:.VI not going to make the kind of speech
that you think I am going to make. In
.
"The Fight,'' which all of your friends
who need to be socialized should go to
near, the doctor says, "You do not say of a
man, How kind is he? How good is he?
You ask, How much is he worth?" What I
want to talk
about is the
time that i::
coming when
we shall ask,
How good is
he ? I am · going to start
just as the indivi d u a 1 i s t
starts.
This
is an incurably competitive world. It
is competitiou
that gives zest
to life, and
adds ·some thing of play
to work. How are we going to socialize this
competitive world? The desire to excel
A
1 above one's fellows still remains with us.
man's greatness still rests on his achievement. But on what basis will you teckon
his achievement? What must men 1lo in
order to be accounte:d great and successful
in this world? William Allen White says :
''The race's progress may be read by the definition it has made of achievement." So it
has been in all history-the answer to that
question tells how far the race has progressed toward its sublime goal.
In prehistoric days the man with the
, strongest muscle was the greatest man.
\\.hen society began to be organized. and so
long as war was the chief business of life.
the gr eat man was the soldier. In the Mid-
I
'
Jood Gray Poet
platform ! The
r friend, PnoF.
1rcely wait for
are we to hear
itman, Prophet
Id have revelled
1rnest men and
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does not see what he has done, as the soldier does when he looks around the battle-field. To increase the price of oil or sugar
seems very innocent, and it brings in the
millions; and the man who does it never
knows the suffering and hardship he has
caused all along the line. (Applause;) William James says: ''We need in our presentday life something that will produce · the
moral equivalent of war." Money does not
do it. ; But just so long as we count a man's
success on the basis · of the money he has
won, just so long it will be money that men
compete for. This desire to be great is one
of the -best possessions of mankind; it is because of it that the race has made progress.
The way to socialize this incurably competitive world is to set men to competing for
something better than lordship and gold.
(Applause.) You can't get rid of the game;
and you don 't want to. But you can change
the rules of the game, and if you do that,
then the game itself is changed.
(Applause. )
That isn't · nearly so hard as it seems.
:.fen are goocj., rather than bad. There are
three forces that go to make up man's life
- self-interest, conscience, and public opinion. Public opinion nowadays is the biggest
factor in a man's life: the conscience of the
community means more to a man than his
own ·c onscience or his self-interest. ( The
speaker iilustrated this by telling how the
Western Uniori Telegraph Company in New
York lost $6,000,000 annually, ,g ained by allowing gambling over their private wires,
rather than have the names and photographs
·of the directors published in the papers.)
There is no man who is unmoved by public
opinion, and the bigger the man, the more
he is amenable to it. We all live up to the
rules of our class : what your set requires of
you, that you will do.
Jesus said: " He that would be first among
'
most of their lives in business. Business
began as a division of men who could make
utensils, men who could use utensils, and
men who could fetcn and carry utensils; and
that division still holds. Business in the
beginning was simply f supplying of social
needs. Business still ,1s, and always must
remain, the discovery and fulfilment of these
needs. Most men are in business today for
the money that is in it. The evil of business
has grown out of the standard of success we
have agreed to. · The business man has a
perfect ri-ght to ask a toll of the community,
but because he is so anxious to be great he
is under constant temptation to ask a .larger
toll than is his due.
This raises the question, What is
reasonable return that the business man
may expect for the service he renders?
It has been accepted in business up to
now that a thing is worth as much
as it will bring.
The law of supply
and demand isn't adequate when it can be
manipulated. From the social point or
view, a thing is worth as much as it costs
to make and sell it, plus a reasonable return
to the maker and the seller. The reasonable return of the money-lender has been ·
fixed by many States at 6 per cent. The
manufacturer and the merchant are entitled
to a larger rate. When we have arrived at a
consensus of opinion as to this, then everything in excess of dividends must be given
back to the community in the shape of a
better and cheap~r product and of more
wage.
Apply the rule of Jesus to business. and
you will have in business one of the finest
expositions of the Christian idea. There is
nothing intrinsically different between the
business man and the teacher or the social
worker. There is something in business
which appeals to the imagination, if one
brings imagin;itinn rn
it
r •· - ~
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oeen accepted iri business up to
-~• .r vu can change t1ow that a thing is worth as much
··· - • u,e,; or the game, and if you do that,
as it will bring. The law of supply
(Ap- and demand isn't adequate when it can be
tnat gives zest then the game itself is changed.
manipulated. From the social point or
to life, and plause. l
That isn't nearly so hard as it seems. view, a thing is worth as much as it costs· ·
adds some•
thing of play Men are good, rather than bad. There are to make and sell it, plus a reasonable return
to work. How are we going to socialize this three forces that go to make up man's life to the maker and the seller. The reasoncompetitive world? The desire to excel -self-interest, conscience, and public opin- able return of the money-lender has been
above one's fellows still remains with us. A ion. Public opinion nowadays is the biggest fixed by many States at 6 per cent. The
man's greatness still rests on his achieve- factor in a man's life: the conscience of the manufacturer and the merchant are entitled
ment. But on what basis will you reckon community means more to a man than his to a larger rate. When we have arrived at a
bis achievement? What must men do in own <!onscience. or his self-interest. (The consensus of opinion as to this, then everyorder to be accounted great and successful speaker illustrated this by te~ng how the thing in excess of dividends must be given
Western Union Telegraph Company in New back to the community in the shape of a
in this world? William Allen White says:
"The race's progress may be read by the defi- York lost $6,000,000 annually, .gained by al- better and cheaper· product and of more
·
nition it has made of achievement." So it lowing gambling over their private wires, wage.
Apply the rule of Jesus to business, and
has been in all history-the answer to that rather than have the names and photographs
you will have in business one of the finest
question tells how far the race has ·pro- of the directors published -in the papers.)
There is no man who is unmoved by public expositions of the Christian idea. There is
gressed toward its sublime goal.
In prehistoric days the man with the opinion, and the bigger the man, the more nothing intrinsicaJly different between the
strongest muscle was the greatest man. he is amenable to it. We all -live up to the business man and the teacher or the social
'\Vhen society began to be organized, and so rules of our .class: what your set requires of worker. There is something in business·
which appeals to the imagination, if one
long as war was the chief business of life, you, that y'ou will do.
Jesus said : "He that would be-first among brings imagination to it. I used to pity .men
the great man was the soldier. In the Middle Ages, when the Church held the reins you, let him be your servant." The adop- who had to deal with things instead of
of temporal power and controlled the means tion of that simple rule would change the . people or ideas, but I think now the business
of culture, the great man was the priest. game, and life on earth would be more like man has one of the .greatest of opportunities
The discovery of gunpowder made the sol- the heavenly life. (Applause.) It is a rev- of service to his fellow-men. He can say,
dier insignificant, and the invention of the olutionary measure of success; but it has as Jesus did: "I am in the -midst of you as
already been adopted in many quarters- he that serveth." W.h at I am pleading for
printing-press made the priest insignificant;
and then the man who wanted to be · great by the physician, the teacher, the art- is this :-the business man must be tested
.
·went into politics. But during the last gen- ist, the scientist, the minister, the we!- by the same measure of success as the
These men are great,
teacher and the minister and the welfare ,,,eration the man who could control the sur- fare worker.
worker. Then the greatest business in a
plus earnings of his fellow-men was the not because they have made money,
great man, and men who wanted to be great but because they have rendered some city will not be that which pays the biggest
entered the pursuit for gold. The struggle service to the> community. ( The speaker dividends, but that which pays the biggest
wages, and renders the biggest service to
for money · which has characterized this past • then told how Robert E. Lee refused $50,000
the community in which it is situated. (Apgeneration, and which is still with us, is a year to lend his name as president of a
nothing other than the man-old desire to be northern development company,' and died as . plause.) We will continue to ask of a man,
president of Washington Academ y, at $1,200
How much is he worth? but the question
great, to stand out above one's fellows.
w1ll mean, How much is he worth to the
Jhere are no misers today. A misfr ,gets a vear.) He was none the less great for
money and hides it. Today a man gets that, was he? The hour has sfruck when crimmunity? (Applause.)
And this change is taking place now, almoney and makes a show of it. / Money this same measure of success must be apmost without notice. A new type of hero
means power. The man who has money <!an plied to business and politics! (Applause.)
is arising today. The old; ideal was the
buy his way into most of the places he The time has <!ome when men who would
man who had begun poor and ·ended rich, no
wants to go, and do most of the things he be · great must .go into business as a form
wants t-0 do. The kind of lordship with of social service. We ·have put business men matter how he earned his money. That type
which this generation is familiar is the lord- under pressure to get money, and more is no longer played up iri · the magazines
ship of gold. Any n1an can make money money. You and I . and all of us are re- and newspapers. The "Interesting People"
if he will pay the price, and these perfectly sponsible for public opinion. We must put in the ma.gazines today a're the people who
splendid fellows who want to be great have them under just the same .pressure to -r-end~r-- . .have rendered some servi¢e _to the commusought greatness by the easiest and <!heap- service to the community as we have put" · nity iO:.: which th~Y--liv'e:-·.:.,-On:ce more, when
.
you change the stak~ fofi;.. whj.ch men play;'·
est route-just to get money and more them to get rich.
I suppose now you will think I am becom- the game .will lose none 'of its thrill. Do
money.
The man who earns greatness by money ing very visionary, when I talk of Christian- you say,_ You have got to have material
izing business. But our ·. modern civilization profit to induce individual initiative and inmeans nothing if it doesn't apply to busi- ventiveness? The gr.eat~st inventiveness}°*The ~pee~hes and the questions and auswers
ness, because , most men :today are spending
(Continued on .Page 4.)
reported !,~· :\Iiriam .-\.lieu cle Forcl.
.
,
I
ast the Good Gray Poet
O'l our platform !
The
1 be our friend, PnoF.
can scarcely wait for
{erness are we to hear
\
I
'Talt Whitman, Prophet
I
nan would have revelled
1ately earnest men and
years before we came ·
~elieve this after you
u believe it now or not.
Meetings
~tings
l daily, except Saturdays
-FREE
burton Place
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THE QUESTIONS
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Q (Mr. Brown): In changing the rules
of the game of life, shouldn't we change the
individuals with them?
A: Of course, we do change the individual to get _him to play by the new rules.
Q: Is it - not a waste of time to apply
moral persuasion to business when the object of business in the last analysis is
greed?
'
A: I don 't agree with you that it is. As
I pointed out, business once was, and should
be again, social service.
Q: How can yo u Ch:r:istianize business except by governmentally so.c ializing it, as we
have done in the parcel post·?
A: Just as other forms of activity have
been socialized-teaching, for instance.
Q: As long as property rights have always preceded hu::nan rights, how are you
going to change that order?
A: They have not, always; they have
sometimes, because of the standard of success we have set up. We are getting back
to the old estimate.
Q: What is the necessity of a middleman
in the selling and using of coal, for instance?
.
A: There is no necessity. It is simply
an inevitable convenience of a complex social life.
Q: Since preaching hasn't done much
good for two thousand years; why wouldn' t
it be better to enlighten the working man
as to his rights instead of asking the business man to be good? (Applause.)
A: In ''The Inside of the Cup," Winston
Churchill says: "You will never ,g et what
you call Socialism until Socialism is no
longer necessary."
Q: You have laid stress on public opinion. Why did Ibsen say: "The strongest
man is he who stands alone?"
A: I don't know why he said it, but it
isn't true. Tlie strongest man is he who
stands against public opinion only when it
is wrong.
Q: :'.\o matter what the standard of success is, there are a lways great men. How
do ,·on account for it?
Q: Why should money be allowed to
take precedence over life'?
A: It shouldn't.
Q (Sent up in writing by a deaf and
dumb member of the audience): Isn't
,vealth acquired through an excessive rate
of rent and employed for worthy and useful
ends-hospitals, libraries-better employed
than if it were scattered · in the form of better ·wages between isolated and divergent
wills?
·
A: If I understand the question I do_ not
agree with the inference made. Excessive
rents cannot be sanctified by their use for
public benefits.
Q: If a liquor dealer sells his commodity
at cost is he rendering a social service?
A: That is a purely hypothetical case!
(Laughter.)
Q (::\1iss Rogolsky): Doesn' t the Jaw
sometimes overrule public opinion when
public opinion is right?
A: Temporarily; but law is nothing but
crystallized public opinion. You can have
an ything you want if yo u want it badly
eno-Hgh.
Q: Would co-operative societies socialize
business?
A: I think they wou ld very largely . help
to do so.
Q: Is it a fair return to the community
when a man who has accumulated much
money leaves one-quarter to · the public and
three-quarters to his family?
A: It is not: and the income and inlJritance taxes
some time remedy that.
Q: Is it not true that the primary motive in our desire to get money is to get
comforts and I uxuries, and the respect of
the community is secondary?
A: I never heard but one man subscribe
to that opinion. American men today do
not love softness.
Q ( :.\1r. Coleman) : But don't you think
that's true of moll.est sums of money-of
us here. for instance?
A: Certainly, because most of us here
don't make enough to- win any prestige!
(Lau_ hter. l
g
will
Q (:.\fr. Hogan): Can't the people be ,
educated to change public opinion to the
right?
A: Certainly; that is exactly what I am .
pleading for.
Q: What rule have you for · chan ging public opinion other than educating the com-mon people as to what their rights are and
how to .g et them·? (Applause.)
A: That is the best way, but that operates only for the common people. What we
need is some way to get this same idea tothose who do not regard themselves as the
common people.
. Q: Hasn't money been responsible for
murder, war , prostitution, slavery and star- vation?
A: i\ot money, but the love of money.
Q: Are there many big l~usiness men .
who run their businesses on the lines laid
down by Jesus?
A: There are beginning to be. I know
some fairly significant business men who are
doing it.
·
,
Q: Why should not the government ap-ply these very principles collectively instead
of our applying them individually'?
A: The government does apply them,
and will, more a nd more. Until now we
have socialized the unpr')fitable activities ;
now we must socialize t he profitable ones.
Q: What is the reason that divinity is.
being commercialized ?
A: I am afraid my brother has neve1been a preacher, or he would know that we
do not go into the profession for commercial reasons.· But why not pay teachers of
morals as well as teachers of other things?'
Q: Since the greatest men are those
who serve the people in a representative.
capacity, usually governmental, why not.
give these ideas directly to the government'?'
A: Because, though we would arrive
more quickly, "·e would not go so far.
Q: How does the teaching of Jesus differ from that of }loses?
A: Just as He compared it, when He
said: "I come tt> fulfil the law of :.\foses."
Q (Same) : Can the policeman, the soldier and the executioner be Christianized as.
well as the business man, and what kind of
voliceman, soldier and exe cutioner would
they be'? (Laughter.)
A: The first two can, any wa:r, more
easily than the business man.
'1·
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By G
Last S
Hall in tw
attendance
the aften
young Le
enough coJ
circulation
sand mark;
hit it so s,
co1Jies wer
than four l
a tribute b
s ·a m Sackn
ical sketch
ford met w
·In one d
noon in the
made an ,
After pointi
crowds we
our doors ~
sible adve1
have, he sai
ing in the .1
ing for the i
markable sp
place there.
thing was i
often he go
those he got
themselves . .
j
And tMt ~
I , too, enj1y
line outside,,
from the beg:
lines on botl
with the peo1
night. I lik
Ford Hall pe
talk to me. t
I get to chat
me right now
a con,·ersatior
Passing b~· tl
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i.Jeen socialized-teacnmg, 1or 111,;Lalll:i:!.
Q: As long as property ri ghts have always })receded bu::nan rights, how are you
going to change that order ?
A: They have not, always ; they .have
sometimes, because of the standard of success we have set up. We are getting back
to the old estimate.
Q: What is the necessity of a middleman
in the selling and using of coal, for instance?
A: There is no necessity. It is simply
an inevitable convenience of a complex social life.
Q: Since preaching hasn't done much
good for two thousand years; why wouldn't
it be better to enlighten the working man
as to his rights instead of asking the business man to be good? (Applause.)
A:
In "The Inside of the Cup," Winston
Churchill says: "You will never ,g et what
you call Socialism until Socialism is no
longer necessary."
Q: You have laid stress on public opinion. Why - id Ibsen say: "The strongest
d
man is he who stands alone?"
A: - I don't know why he said it, but it
isn't true. The strongest man is he who
stands against public opinion only when it
is wrong.
Q: No matter what the standard of success is, there are always great men. How
do you account for it?
A: I cannot account for it. All we can
do is to see that the standard of the future
is the standard of Jesus.
Q: How can you compare business and ·
teaclling when business requires an investment and -teaching does not?
A: Money is stored up personal energy,
and teachers must invest much personal
energy.
Q (Mr. Sackmary) : Is it not ironical to
ask us to give our life and blood when we
already do so, and the great capitalists do
not?
, A: · I did not mean to be ironical. I say,
you are doing it now, and I ask, for what?
If we expect these men who mus( still be
Christianized, to change their -standards, we
must change ours, too.
Q: Do you think that public opinion, es~
pecially as expressed in the press, is always
right?_
.,,
A: · -No. But we have each our little
share in it, and we must see to it that our
part of it is ri-ght.
Q: What do you think of the income
ta..'i:?
A: I think very highly of it. I may not
approve all its details, but I thoroughly believe in its principle, and that in a few
years it will include all .the surplus wealth
of individuals.
Q: How can public opinion be changed
unless someone first stands alone to start
it?
A: Very few men today. are right all
alone. Even the pioneers are likely to have
companions.
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That is a purely hypothetiQal case!
Q: 11\Thy should not the government ap(Laughter.)
ply these very principles collectively instead ·
Q (i\'Iiss Rogolsky): Doesn't the law
of our applying them individualln
sometimes overrule public opinion when
A: The government does appl y them,
public opinion is right?
ancl will, more and more. -Until now we
A: Temporarily; but law is nothing but have socialized the unpr')fitable activities;
crystallized public opinion. You can have now we must socialize th e profitable ones_
anything you want if you want it badly
Q: What · is the reason that divinity is.
enough.
being commercialized?
Q: ·would co-operative societies socialize
A: I am afraid my brother has neve1business?
been a preacher, or he would know that we
A : I think they would very largel y help do not go into the profession for commer-to do so.
cial reasons. But why not pay teachers of
Q: Is it a fair return _ the community
to
morals as well as teachers of other things?
when a man who has accumulated much
Q: Since the greatest men are those
money leaves one-quarter to · the public and
who serve the people in a representative
three-quarters to his family?
capacity, usually governmental, why not
A : It is not ; and the income and in- give these ideas directly to the government?·
heritance taxes will some time remedy that.
A: Because, though we would arrive
Q: Is it not true that the primary momore quickly, we would not go so far.
tive in our desire to get money is to get
Q : How does the teaching of Jesus difcomforts and luxuries, and the respect of . fer from that of Moses?
the community is secondary?
A: Just as He compared it, when He
A: I never heard but one man ·s ubscribe said: "I come to fulfil the Jaw of :l-1oses."
to that opinion. American men today do
Q (Same): Can the policeman, the solnot love softness.
dier and the executioner be Christianized as
Q (M r : Coleman) : But don't you think
well as the business man, 'and what kind of
that's true of modest sums of money-of policeman, soldier and executioner would
us here, for instance?
~
they be ? (Laughter.)
A: Certainly, because most of us here
A: The first two can, any way, more
don't make enough to win any prestige!
easily than the business man.
(Laughter.)
Q: Do you mean to say as a Christian
Q (Mrs. Hoffman): Is the manufactur- minister that the public can make that
ing of guns, liquor and patent medicines
which is morally wrong, morally right?
rendering service to society?
A: Certainly not. But I do say that
A : ~o, and in the future these businesses
public opin!tm can make a .man who is doing
will be considered unlawful.
wrong do right.
Q: The saloon is recognized by the
church and the home as a great evil. Why
The Greater Problem
hasn't public opinion wiped it out?
A: That is one of the mysteries of our
By Helen Keller.
present-day life. But all of a sudden that
"Deafness,- like poverty, stunts and
very thing is going to happen. (Laughter
deadens its victims until they do not
and applause.)
realize the wretchedness of their. conQ: Will a man stand aside for public
dition. They are incapable of desiring
opinion if it stands between him and his
improvement. God help them! They
bread and butter?
grope, they stumble with their eyes
A: No, but it isn't true that a man will
wide open, they are indifferent. They
lose his breaci and butter who conducts his
miss everything in the world that
business according to the rules of Jesus.
makes life worth living, and yet they
Q: Didn't Confucius and Buddha teach
do not realize their own bondage.
morals before Christ?
We must not wait for the deaf to ask
A: Certainly.
for speech, or for the submerged of
Q (Miss deFord): You believe in the
humanity to rise up and demand their
income and the inheritance tax. Do yo u
liberties. We who see, we who hear,
believe in the returning of the unearned
we who understand, must help them,
increment of the land to the people, accord· must give them the bread of knowling to the principle .Df Henry George?
edge, must teach them what their huA: I am not quite sure. I am still waitman inheritance is. Let every science
ing for light on that subject.
do its part-medicine, surgery, otolQ (Mr. Frazer): Do you believe the
ogy, psychology, education, invention,
world is growing more or less moral?
economics, mechanics. And while you
· A: lt is climbing fast up the · golden
are working for the deaf child, do not
stairs!
'
forget that his problem is only part
Q: Did public opinion or the solidarity
of a greater problem, the problem of
of the workers settle the Lawrence strike?
bettering the condition of all manA:· Public opinion. Strikes have never
kind."
been won without public opinion back of
them.
A:
In one dis c
noon in the F
made an exc
After pointing
crowds we .ar,
our doors Sm:
sible advertiE
have, he· said
ing in the line
ing for the do,
markable spon
place there. :F
thing was imr
often he got .
those he got f
themselves.
And that giv
I, too, enjoy b
line outside, ar
from the begim
lines on both E
with the people
night. I like
Ford Hall peop
talk to me. Tl
I get to chat v
me right now ir
a conversation ,
passing by the
posed.
I
I
f.
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1
· That educatio
is growing steac
ready to render
It is quite eviclE
group who woul
ance, to gain ,
practical every-c
ment. The con
th·e matter madE
Foster, a very c
ing report. AftE
matter was r ecc
further condens:
report as soon a
YOU might be i
meeting in the
which the ch;u.g
send vour name
Cra wiord, Ford I
Our F. H . F. m
afternoon are gr
in importance. ,
last Sunday by
speaker for the :
meeting. Mrs. J,
intendent of the
.Sherburn, gave
about her n eighbc
when she was at
vice · Department
era! Hospital. T
had a buffet supp
ing twenty-five ce1
ate together . and
ciaJ intercourse.
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FORD HALL FOLKS
rn·t the people be ,
Jlic opinion to the
\
exactly what I aru .
i
By
iu for· changing pub-
educating the com- ;heir rights are and
.ause.)
way, but that oper,n people. What we
!t this same idea to·
d themselves as the
een responsible for
,n, slavery and star- ·
:he love of money.
big business men .
es on the lines laid
1ing to be. I know
usiness men who are
the government ap-·
s collectively instead
ndividually'?
; does apply them, .
.ore. Until now we
.pr'lfitable activities;
the profitable ones .
.son that divinity is .
.- brother has neve1·
would know that we
Jfession for comruernot pay teachers of
1ers of other things·?"
test men are those
in a representative
ernmental, why nol
y to the government'?'
1
we would arrive
i not go so fa r .
eaching of Jesus dif?
nparecl it, when He
the law of ::\'Ioses."
1e policeman, the sol~r be Christianized as
.an, -and what kind of
d exec utioner would
can, any way, more
ss man.
:o say as a -Christian
1blic can make that
ng, morally right'?
But I do say that
.~e a roan who is doing
___ ,., ,.. ,_ . .. ; .,,...,.1
1,,.
AS IT LOOKS TO ME
GEORGE
W.
Director of the Ford Hall Meetings
Last Sunday was banner night at Ford
Hall in two particulars. We had the largest
attendance yet at the " Folks"' meeting in
the afternoon, seventy in number, and
young London and his assistants sold
enough copies of this ma;a:zine to push the
circulation fe r the first time up to the thousand mark. I really did not think we would
hit it so soon. Slightly over eight hundred
copies were sold that night as against less
than four hundred the night before. That is
a tribute both to Dr. W~ and to our own
Sam Sackman', whose thumb-nail biographical sketch so cleverly done by Miss Craw- ·
ford met with widespread approval.
*
*
*
In one . discussio:i. we had· Sunday afternoon in the F. H. F. meeting ::\'Ir. Victorson
made an exceedinslY thoughtful remark.
After pointing out -the obvious fact that the
crowds we are obliged to turn away from
our doors Sunday nights are the best possible advertisement our meetings cou'.:l
have, he said that he greatly enjoyed standing in the line outside with the crowd waiting for the doors to open because of the remarkable spontaneous discussions that take
place there. He said the psychology of the
thing was immensely interesting, and that
often he got values .from it greater than
those he got from the Ford Hall meetings
themselves.
·
*
*
*
And that gives me the chance to say that
I, too, enjoy being with the _
people in the
line outside, and _that is the reason I have
from the beginning walked up and down the
lines on both sides of the building talking
with the people whom I knew every Sunday
night. I like to talk personally with the
Ford Hall people, and I like to have them
ta-lk to me. That is about the only chance
I get to chat with the most of them. Let
me right now invite any one of you open up
a conversation with me any time you see me
passing by the line, and you feel so disposed.
*
*
*
That educational plan we are working -on
is growing steadily, although we are not yet
r eady to render a decision or go into details.
It is quite evident, however, that there is a
group ,Yho ,Yonlcl likP.
rl ,a
COLEMAN,
nruin.,.. ;,...,c- ,- ; ........ ...... : ~
,,~~
,
The next Ford Hall Folks "meeting comes
Dec. 14, at 3.30 o'clock. Everyone who is interested is welcome. Just drop a line to
Miss Crawford a few ·days ahead telling her
that you are comin~.
*
*
*
*
* . *
The :.1anchester, ::-.. H., Open Forum
started last Sunday night. I am hoping to
hEar very good things from it.
The :.last.er of the South Dakota Grange
and his wife were with us last Sunday night
on the platform. They had heard about us
while they were attending the meeting of
._
the ~ational Grange in ~ew Hampshire and
came down especially to study our work on
their own account. They went away highly
pleased.
* * *'
It is delightful to notice how some good
people ·are finding out that we are neither
bigoted nor crazy at Ford Hall,-only dead
in earnest and trying to be fair to everybody, that is all.
*. *
*
We were all glad to have one Sunday
ni- ht when it didn 't rain.
g
*
*
*
It will be good to have ~orman Hapgood
on our platform again next -Sunday night.
I count him one of the mcst virile forces for
good in America. He will give Harper's
Weekly, before he is through with it, something of the prestige- it had in the old days.
It is great fun to watch it grow every week
under his · guiding genius.
*
*
*
If Peter Clark. Macfarlane shows us that
he can talk anywhere near as well as he
can write, we will be in danger of making
him "a little tin .g od on wheels."
*
*
*
Do you ·know Miss Bessie Polsky, who
generally sits pretty near the centre of the
central section of seats on the floor? Quite
frequently she propounds a question and it
is always a thoughtful one. She keeps
books all through the week, but Sunday
night in Ford Hall she is as keenly sensitive to eve·rything that goes on as if that
were her chief business in life. It is just
because we have so many men and wo men.
~..,.1..., ,-.
l: 1 . •
"
..- •
3
Do you know it isn't an _easy thing for
anybody to devote himself to the welfare
of others? vVe think sometimes that the
rich men ought to• do that kind of a stunt.
:VIost of us appear rich to someone, and he
doubtless thinks we might easily do a good
deal more for others than we do. Did you
ever try to keep at doing for others day in
and day out the year around? Some rich
men do that, and many poor men do it. Do
we who are neither rich nor poor?
*
*
*
So Brother Strayer thinks we can't sfng
as well as his folks do in Rochester '? I am
glad he told us so, fo r that will make ·us
try harder to do better. Bti°t I thi nk there is
a very good reason for it. From what I've
heard, I don't believe they have so heterogeneous an audien ce as we do. It makes a
great difference whether people have ever
been used to singing together before. I
think we do wonderfully well and believe at
the same time that :.fr. Gutterson can help
us to do much better. The chorus is growing in healthy. fashion. As it gets stronger,
we will get more and more help from it.
How easy it is for us to lay the blame for
our failure upon our employer, upon this political party or that, upon the tariff, the chiggers, the boll-weevil-upon everything under
the sun except ourselves. To those who complained of the heavy taxes Poor Richard replied, "We are taxed twice as much by our
·idleness, three times as much by our
pride, and four times as much by our folly."
And Shakespeare said, as you will remember, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our
stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Other Meetings
Wells Memorial Institute, 937 Washington
Street, Tuesday, Dec. 2, at S P . M. Better
Houses for Working People, by George B.
Gallup.
Public Library, Thursday, Dec. 4, at S
P . M., Raphael, the Decorator, by Mary ,Augusta Mullikin. Sunday, Dec. 'i, at 3 P . M.,
The Ides of :VIarch and Pom pey's Theatre,
by S. Richard Fuller.
The Sunday -Commons, at Huntington
Hall, Sunday, Dec. 7, at 3.30 P. M., Dr.
Charles Fleischer, leader.
School Voters' League, at Ford Hall, Saturday_ Dec. 6, at 10.45 A. ::vr.. Some Aspects
of the Feminist }Iovement, by :--Jarman Hapgood. 50c.
·1
;;
_.
• ·• -
themselves.
ntal, whY not
be :!overnment?
, " :-o uld arrive
go so far.
,g of Jesus dif-
i it, when I::le
,; of :!\• oses."
l
ceman, the sol~hristianized as. .
d what kind ef
:utioner would
way, more
;as a Christian
;an make that
rally right?
I do say that
m who is doing
*
by the
reat evil. Why
:it out?
ysteries of our
a sudden that
en. (Laughter
f .
·
public
l himorand his
bat a man will
10 conducts his
iles of Jesus.
\ 13uddha teach
*
ibelieve in the
f tax.
Do you
~ the unearned
\people, · accord·
v George?
[ am still waitru believe the
~ moral?
op · the golden
~ the
solidarity
Frence strike?
: s have never
e
\inion back of
f
.1..J.aJ.J.
11.H ! eUUgs
*
*
*
· That educational plan we are working on
is growing steadily, although we are not yet
ready to render a decision or go into details.
It is quite evident, however, that there is a
group who would like, under inspiring guidance, to gain a closer knowledge of the
1
1ractical every-day details of local government. The committee appointed to study
th·e matter made through its chairman, Mr.
Foster, a very comprehensive and interesting report. After an hour's discussion, the
matter was r ecommitted ·to them for still
further condensation with instructions to
report as soon as they could. If · you think
you might be interested in such a class
meeting in the evening ·once a week, for
which the char.ge would be only nominal,
send your name and address to Miss M. C.
Crawford, Ford Building, Boston.
I
;nized
l. de
a
*
v ... '""
And that gives rue the chance to say that
I , too, enjoy being with the _
people in the
line outside, and that is the reason I have
from the beginning walked up and down the
Jines on both sides of the building talking
with the people whom I knew every' Sunday
night. I like to talk personally with the
Ford Hall people, and I like to have them
talk to rue. That is about the only chance
I get to chat with the most of them. Let
me right now invite any one of you open up
a conversation with me any time you see me
passing by the line, and you feel so disposed.
l
I.ny
'
*
...
'
*
*
Our F. H. F. meetings every third Sunday
afternoon are growing fast in interest and
in importance. We inaugurated a new idea
last Sunday by having a specially invited
speaker for the last fifteen minutes of the
meeting. Mrs. Jessie I. Hodder, the superintendent - f the Woman's Reformatory at
o
.Sherburn, gave us a -irery intimate talk
about her neighborly work in the West End
when she was at the head of the Social Service · Department of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Then nearly seventy of us
had a buffet supper together, each one paying twenty-five cents. For an hour or so we
ate together• and indulged in delightful social intercourse.
_
_._. .... ._,
.._, UilUd. j
1llg11 t.
1 co unt him one of the mcst virile forces for
good in America. He will give Harper·s
Weekly, before he is throi.1gh with it, something of the prestige it had in the old days.
It is great fun to watch it grow every week
under his guiding genius.
__ -~~~""Jl"are said, as you ,,ill remember, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our
stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Other Meetings
Wells Memorial Institute, 9Si Washington
* * *
Street, Tuesday, Dec. 2, at S P. M. Better
If Peter Clark Macfarlane shows us that
Houses for Working People, by George B.
he can talk anywhere near as well as he
can write, we will be in danger of making Gallup.
Public Library, Thursday, Dec. 4, . at S
him "a little tin .g od on wheels."
,.
P. 111:., Raphael, the Decorator, by Mary Au* *
gusta Mullikin. Sunday, Dec. 7, at 3 P. M.,
Do you know Miss Bessie Polsky, who
generally sits pretty near the centre of the The Ides of March and Pompey's Theatre,
central section of seats on the floor? Quite by S. Richard Fuller.
The Sunda.y Commons, at Huntington
frequently she propounds a question and it
is always a thoughtful one. She keeps Hali, Sunday, Dec. 7, at 3.30 P . M., Dr.
books all through the week, . but Sunday Charles Fleischer, leader.
School Voters' League, at Ford Hall, Satnight in Ford Hall she is as keenly sensiurday, Dec. 6, at 10.45 A. M., Some .Aspects
tive to eve"rything that goes on as if that
were her chief business in life. It is just of the Feminist Movement, by Norman Hapbecause we have so many men a nd women, good. 50c.
Lowell Institute, at Huntington Hall,
who, like Miss Polsky, are all absorbed in
the evening's program, that we have such -a . Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 5 P. :11:., Some Types
remarkable audience, a fact well attested of English Poetry, by Prof. G. H. Palmer.
Monday, Dec. 1, and Thursday, Dec. 4, at
by scores of speakers.
8 P. M., The Sea in English Poetry, by Alfred Noyes. Tuesday, Dec. 2, and Friday,
Dec. 5, at 8 P. M., The Influence of the ·
Ford Hall Folks
Bible on Civilization, by Prof. Errist
Edited by Thomas Dreier.
von Dobschiitz.
School of Social Science, at Lorimer Hall,
UBLISHED weekly by the Ford
Monday, Dec. 1, at 8 .P. M., Efficiency in LegHall Associates, whose work
islation :-New Senate s ·c enes, by Mrs.
is to create, assemble, and
Emily Montague .Bishop ; and Keeping Tabs
'listribute ideas that will help
on Congress, by L ynn Haines. • l0c.
men and institutions grow more
helpful in serving society, and which
Telephone Fort Hill 3456
will promote "peace on earth, good
will toward men." It is the official
MISS S. A. SMITH
publication of the Ford Hall Meet'
294 Washington St.-BOST9.N-217 Old South Bldg.
ings, which are held, under the direction of George W. Coleman, every
ALL KINDS OF -CLERICAL SERVICE
Sunday GYening during the months of
Stenographic, Typewriiing, MultigraphinJ?, Address•
October to May, in Ford Hall, Ashinir, Mailing.etc. Prompt.Service . Reasonable Rates.
burton Place, Boston, Massachusetts.
_
..,,..,,..
All bu,iness communications should
be sent to Miss Mary C. Crawford,
ADVERTISING
.
.
Treasurer Ford Building, Boston,
A space of this., size-one inch high and
and all comm uni ~at.ions intended for
two and . one-half · inches wide-can be had
the editor to The Thomas Dreier Serfor advertising _
purposes for one dollar per
vice, University Pres.s, Cambridge,
issue. · For 'information regarding advertisMass. Subscription Price: $1.50 for
ing apply to ._
Jacob London, Room 707, Ford
26 numbers . .
Building, Boston, M,1iSS.
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FAIRNESS SATISFIES.
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By George W. Coleman.
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FORD HALL FOLKS ·
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\Vhy not face the facts clear-eyed-employer and employee alike? If the employer
won 't tell what his profits are, it is because
he is ashamed of them or because he is
afraid some one will get them a way from
him. If the employee doesn't know what
the profits of the business are, he is sure
to exaggerate them and wonder why he gets
so little.
Here is a concern doing an annual business that runs into a score of millions of
dollars. The profit each y-t;ar is about three
and a half per cent. There are· eight thousand employees, among the best paid in
general industry.
If all the · profits were given to the employees they would each of them get .about
a ten per cent. increase in wages or salary,
as the case might be. There are some I. W.
W.'s and Socialists among those employees
who probably think they are being robbed
. of the fruits of their toil. There are labor
union men among them who undoubtedly believe that a raise of teri per cent. in wages
all around · would still leave the concern a
big rake-off. But probably there isn't one
of them who would be willing, if he were
running a business, to pay his men so much
that he himself could make only a three
per cent. profit on the business done. In
fact, it couldn't be done by any one except
the most able and hard-working men with
long experience and on the scale of millions.
Now those are the hard, stubborn facts in
regard to that -one industry: Over against
them is the widely prevailing notion among
the workers and among social reformers that
a fair division of the products of labor would
give every workingman from two thousand
to twenty-five hundred dollars a year instead
of the pitiable five. hundred he is now rece1vmg. The truth of the matter is, I am
told. that if all the profits in all lines of
business were divided up among all the
employees, share and share alike, each one
would get an increase of only about two
hundred dollars a year.
Now if these facts were known in the
large and as to e3.ch industry, if they were
explained and elucidated until every one
NEXT
SUNDAY'S
SPEAKER.
There are still some journalists in America whose opinions are worth i:e:;pecting for
the reason that these men are- endowed with
a high order of intelligence-and wield pens
which are both unpurchased and unprejudiced. Norman Hapgood is conspicuously of
their number. This ,winter, in his work on
Harp er' s Weekly , :vir. Hapgood is himself
covering the department of the drama. His
equipment for this is exceptional. For not
only is he a critical reviewer of many years'
standing, but he also possesses the social
spirit so important to any correct judgment
of work in our own time. It should .be very
informing to hear him discuss on our platform, next ·Sundar, "The Modern Drama As
A Social Force."
THE STORY OF LOUISE ADAMS GROUT.
By Mary C. Crawford.
S the Adams in the · middle of Miss
Grout's name would seem to indicate, this member of the Ford Hall
group is of old New England lineage.
She calls herself laughingly "a
Yankee of the Yankees"-yet sees no incongruity in having transferred her energies from the ancestor worship of the D.
A. R.' s to the service of the Socialist party,
of whose executive committee she is a
member.
·'Knowledge of Socialism and of Ford
Hall came to me about the same time,"
says Miss Grout, "through Alexander
Irvine. Socialism seemed to me a method
of solving all social problems, so I at once
affiliated myself with the Party.
Ford
Hall, on the other hand, seemed to offer a
splendid opportunity of getting in close
touch with all kinds of men and women.
And that, too, i value greatly, not only as
a Socialist, but as an individual. I am also
glad that Ford Hall has the definite, though
unobtrusive, religious background which
differentiates it from many Forum movements in other cities."
For, without being a religionist, Miss
Grout believes in religion. She offers about
as fine an example of the social-minded
Christian of our own day as I have ever
met. · Indeed, I think she would take first
A
0
r~nk in th~t
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the world is that of th<! explorer, th e sciening for Socialism through any channel that
opens.
Which brings me to say that Miss Grout
is the Socialist rriember of Ford Hall's
committee of citizens, and never fails to
respond with alacrity to any call made
upon her for counsel or service. Moreover, she is always a charming and genial
person, thus refuting the common notion
that Socialists are necessarily contentious
and unamiable.
HOW
TO
SOCIALIZE A
WORLD.
COMPETITIVE
(Continued from Page 1.)
tist, the missionary. It is just as exciting to
invent some new social machinery to enable
people to get along together better as it is
to invent some new kind of locomotive or
aeroplane-to invent something to put back
money in to the community as something to
extract from it everything one ca n. That
game is social-it is Christian.
We have to say every day, as .Jesus did.
" This is my body, which is broken for you:
this is my blood, which is shed for you." It
is pitiful to see how our bodies are broken
and our blood shed today, until at last the
waste becomes greater than the repair. and
we die. But for w hat is your body broke
and your blood shed? What account have
you to give of your life ? This new measure
of success must be applied all along the line.
We must ask of ourselves that same standard. \Vhat is the measure of your life-to
serve or to get? It isn't true that " the world
owes yo u a living." YO U owe the world a
life. How have you spent and how are
you going to s;;:;d. it?
Friends Who Are Coiping--l
Dec. 7-::Sforman Hapgood< '"The :viodern
Drama As A Social Force."
Dec. 14-"'Iiss Mary P . Follett of Boston,
"The Social Centre and the Democratic
Ideal." Dr. John Lovejoy Elliott of New
York, ''The Social C,mtre and Direct Action."
Dec. 21-Prof. Charles Zueblin, "Walt
Whitman, Prophet a nd Democrat.''
nof"
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W.'s and Socialists among those employees
who probably think they are being robbed
Q·
of the fruits of their toil. There are labor
wa ys
union men among them who undoubtedly bego1n
lieve that a raise of ten per cent. in wa.ges
A:
all around · would still leave the concern a
·some
big rake-off. But probably there isn't one
~ess
of them who would be willing, if he were
to t
running a business, to pay his men so much
- Q:
-that he himself could make only a three
'n t
per cent. profit on the business done. In
stan
fact, it couldn't be done by any one excepf
A:
the most able and hard-working men with
an i
long experience and on the scale of millions.
cial
Now those are the hard, stubborn facts in
Q:
regard to that -one industry. Over against
goo
them is the widely prevailing notion among
it b
the workers and among social reformers that
as t
a fair division of the products of labor would
nes
give every workingman from two thousand
A
to twenty-five hundred doll!'- a year instead
~.
Chu
of the pitiable five hundre Ui e is now reyou
ceiving. The truth of the m tter is, I am
lon~
told, that if all the profits in all lines of
Q
business were divided up among all the
employees, share and share alike, each one
would get an increase of only about two .
hundred dollars a year.
Now if these facts were known in the
is
large and as to each industry, if they were
explained and elucidated until every one
ces
had mastered them, wouldn 't it do away at
do
once with a good deal of this moonshine
about the employee being robbed by the
~
do
employer? And wouldn't it also tend to
is
reduce exaggerated profits wherever they exist and thus benefit the public as well as
tea'
the employee?
ID
The time is fast coming, if it is not already here, when there is to be a democan
racy of interest in regard to big business
enEl ,..-. . _ affairs. vVhen eight thousand manual work.. ers join hands with eighty brain workers to
as • l"
make a given product in competition with
al
all other workers the onl y sound and stable
no1 ,
basis for such a gigantic piece of co-operative enterprise is a partnership wherein
yo
each group of workers is permitted to know
If
what are the fruits of all their toil, who
C
gets them, and why they are entitled to
m
them. An . organization w elded together on
that prindple would be simply invincible.
pe
Instead oJ spending any energy trying to
ri
get the best of each.:.pther they would then
strain every nerve ttr get the best possible
results for the concern, knowing that !heir
just share was certain to come to them.
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Grout's name would seem to indicate, this member of the Ford Hall
group is of old New England lineage.
She calls herself laughingly "a
Yankee of the Yankees"- yet sees no incongruity in having transferred her energies from the ancestor-worship of the D.
A. R. 's to the service of the Socialist party,
of whose executive committee she is a
member.
·'Knowledge of Socialism and of Ford
Hall came to me about the same time,"
says Miss Grout, "through Alexander
Irvine. Socialism seemed to me a method
of sol ving all social problems, so I at once
affiliated myself with the Party.
Ford
·Hall, on the other hand, seemed to offer a
splendid opportunity of getting in close
touch with all kinds of men and women.
And that, too, I value greatly, not only as
a Socialist, but as an individual. I am also
glad that Ford Hall has the definite, though
unobtrusive, religious background which
differentiates it from many Forum movements in other cities."
For, without being a religionist, Miss
Grout believes in religion. She offers about .
as fine an example of the social-minded
Christian of our own day as I have ever
met. Indeed, I think she would take · first
rank in that way among the women that I
know. With an income which would enable her to enjoy almost every luxury-including an annual trip to Europe--she puts
all her time and a very great deal of her
money into the advancement of Socialism.
Her home on Newbury street is lined with
books which appertain to the days when
the affairs of the Browning Society were a
paramount passion with her. But her desk
is piled high with pamphlets, reports and
drculars, by means of which she organizes
the popular educational lectures given in
Tremont Temple Monday evenmgs throughout the winter under the auspices of the
Boston School for Social Science.
This school, maintained by small contributions and by ten-cent admiss ion fees, has
been made self-supporting by dint of much
hard w= k on the part of Miss Grout and
her associates, and . offers an inspiring object lesson of what might be done for social advance in almost any large city-if
there were a Miss Grout to do it. This
year it gives two courses, one on efficiency
in daily life, whose lecturers are all nonSocialists ; and another, after Christmas,
when Socialists of different types will talk
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on subjects which · reflect various phases
: /.
At St. Helena;'_
,Casas said to Napo- of the Vision. ·. The organizing brain be.Jeon : "Sire, at Potsdam, had I been._y.ou, I
hind all this is Miss Grout, who, for all
would have taken the swoPd- , ot Frederick -.that she is strongly. a party member, beit."r And lieves that the coming of the Co-operative
-~ . the Great and I would have
·Napoleon answered ,as one would. answer .th~:-· Commonwealth can be most effectively adprat~~e of a questioning~_
!;_!lPd,"'· ".{ li(}c( ~Y::, . vanced_ b~ permeating_ p_ublic opinion with
own;
· .~
,
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Jiff: '· ·:.:·
the prmc1ples of Soc1ahsm and by work-
A:J
been
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ext ra ct from it every thing one can. That
game is social-it is Christian.
We have to say every day, as Jesus did .
"This is my body, wh ich is broken for you :
this is my blood, which is shed for you.'' It
is pitiful to see how our bodies are broken
and our blood shed todaY, until at last the
waste becomes greater than the repair. and
we die. But for w hat is your body broke
and your blood shed ? What account have
you to give of your life? This new measure
of success must be applied all along the line.
We must ask of ourselves that same standard. What is the measure of you r life-t6
serve or to get ? It isn't true that " the world
owes you a living. " YOU owe the world a
l i f e.
How have you spent and how are
you going to spend it?
·
Friends Who Are Coming
Dec. 7-~orman Hapgood, ''The Modern
Drama As A Social Force."
Dec. 14-Miss Mary P. Follett of Boston,
"The Social Cent-re and the Democratic
Ideal." Dr. John Lovejoy Elliott of New
York, "The Social C~ntre and Direct Action."
Dec. 21-Prof. Charles Zueblin, ·'Walt
Whitman, Prophet a nd Democrat."
Dec. 28-Rev. John Haynes Holmes or
N ew York, "Peace and the N ew Democracy.''
Jan. 4-Dr. Stanton Coit of London, ''The
Ethics of Marriage and Divorce."
Jan. 11-Symposill m, ''What Is the Matter
With Our Public Schools ?" Miss Margaret
Slattery of Fitchburg a nd ot hers to be announced.
Jan. 18-Bishop Charles Williams of Michigan, " Why I Work for the Sin,g le Tax,"
Jan. 25-Dr. Albion Woodbury Small of
Chicago University.
Feb. 1-Alexander Irvine of New York.
Feb. S-Prof. Edward A. Steiner, "The
Inter-)fational Mind and t he Inter-Racial
Heart."
Feb. 15- Syrn posiwm, ''Breeding .Men ."
Speakers to be announced.
Feb. 22-Charles Brandon Booth, "The
Case for the Prisoner."
March 1-Leslie ,vmis Sprague of Chicag o.
March S- Sympos i um, on "Journalism."
A. J. Philpott -0f the Boston Glob e and others
to be announced.
March 15-Rev. Harry Ward, "The Challenge of Socialism to Christianity."
March 22-Rev . .Frank 0 . Hall of New
York, "The Moral Law."
March 29-J ohn Cowper Powys of England, "The Economic Aspects of Woman
Suffrage."
April 5-Mary Church Terrell, "Uncle
Sam and the Sons of Ham."
April 12-Dr. Thomas C. Hall of New
York.
I
April 19-Prof. Walter Rauschenbusch.
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