Judge Ben B. Lindsey, in _The Survey_, tells of a visit he made to
a refined and lovely home in a large city in the East:
The people in that home were wealthy, and undoubtedly sincere in
their self-righteousness; and in the happiness they found in the
little charities they provided for the children of the workers
in the mills and mines near by. The fathers earned $1.50 a day,
worked long hours, shared all the hazards of their employment.
My ten years’ experience in juvenile court work compelled me to
admit that the powers that made valuable the stocks and bonds
whence the wealth of this home came would be arrayed against any
measure in the Legislature that would do economic justice to
the parents of these children. It seemed strange to me that our
kind-hearted, wealthy family, with morning prayers and regular
church attendance, could not see something in the teaching of
the Master beyond the kind of charity I have mentioned. I could
not help but find a real meaning in some of the platitudes;
“Equal rights to all, special privileges to none”; “Bear ye one
another’s burdens”; “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil”; “Thy kingdom come--on earth.” How much was there of
the real doing of the word? How well was it understood?
(1623)
* * * * *
A California paper recently said:
Eight years in prison for stealing eight copper cents from an
Oakland store was the punishment dealt out to George Gron, who
with a companion entered the store. Gron pleaded guilty. This
sentence is in startling contrast to a year and a half given to
J. Dalzell Brown, who wrecked the California Safe Deposit and
Trust Company and robbed 1,200 depositors of nearly $9,000,000.
Brown was tried only on one count, and he is now in charge
of a deputy, enjoying the holidays because of his promise to
give testimony against others in the bank wreck. All the other
indictments against Brown have been dismist.
(1624)
See WOMEN, INJUSTICE TO.
=Innate Receptivity to Evil=--See DISEASE, CAUSES OF.